1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording/reproducing apparatus, and more particularly, to a dubbing apparatus for synchro-recording the information which is being reproduced with an information reproducing device such as a CD player, to make a copy of the information with an information recording device such as a cassette tape deck.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
It is a common practice to transfer the information recorded on a first recording medium onto a second recording medium. This is generally called a dubbing. Dubbing may be conducted by reproducing the music information recorded on the first recording medium, which may be a CD, with a CD player to generate a reproduction signal, and by recording this reproduction signal on the second recording medium, which may be a magnetic tape (hereinafter referred to as a cassette tape), through a tape deck. In that case, a synchro-recording method is adopted in order to synchronize the operation of the CD player, which is the information reproducing device, with that of the tape deck, which is the information recording device.
In conventional synchro-recording, when reproduction of the information on the CD, by means of the CD player, is ended, the operation of the tape deck is automatically suspended or is rendered to a state in which recording is at a pause.
The above described conventional recording method has an advantage in that, since the operation of the CD player, which is the information reproducing device, is synchronized with the operation of the tape deck, which is the information recording device, the information recorded on the CD can be copied without alteration (for example, with the same time intervals between the two music pieces or in the same order in which the music pieces are recorded).
However, in the above dubbing, the recording time of the CD is not always the same as that of the cassette tape: a user may use a cassette tape which has a longer recording time than the CD. In such a dubbing recording, a non-recorded portion of the cassette tape remains, so the information recorded on another CD may be recorded on that non-recorded portion of the cassette tape. At that time, the CD must be replaced with another one by pressing an open key of the CD player thereby causing a CD tray to protrude or open. This operation of opening the CD tray is troublesome and disturbs a series of recording operations.